Global Ethics Corner: Ethics in Banking: Is There Hope for Wall Street?

It's been a bad year for Wall Street—and not just because profits are
down.

The corporate world's role in the global financial meltdown has branded Wall
Street an icon of corruption and greed. The Occupy movement's persistence has
accentuated the banking world's troubles. But the most significant blow to Wall
Street came just this past week, with the resignation of Greg Smith, a former
executive at Goldman Sachs.

In a controversial op-ed published in The New York Times, Smith delivered
a stinging rebuke of a business culture he calls "toxic" and "destructive."
After a 12-year career at Goldman Sachs, Smith says he resigned due to a "decline
in the firm's moral fiber." He says that Goldman execs once strove to do
right by their clients, but today they place money before morals, aiming only
to maximize profits.

Goldman Sachs has denied Smith's allegations. But Smith's departure has raised
new doubts about the ethics of finance. For many, it underlines the corrosive
moral bankruptcy taking hold of Wall Street.

Can Wall Street regain its moral compass, or do banking and greed go hand-in-hand?

According to Smith, there's hope. In his op-ed, he reflects on a golden era,
when corporate leadership was defined by dollars and ethics. Smith insists that
his resignation is not a reprimand, but a wake-up call. Wall Street, he implies,
can still get it right.

Today's aspiring leaders may not see it that way. Rumors are rife that Wall
Street is facing a recruiting crisis, in part because many students don't believe
that ethics and finance can be bridged in the current climate.

What do you think? Can banks be ethical? Is there hope for Wall Street?